Certificate-Based Authentication vs Token Based Authentication
Developers should learn and use certificate-based authentication when building secure applications that require high-assurance identity verification, such as in financial systems, healthcare platforms, or IoT device management meets developers should use token based authentication when building stateless apis, such as restful or graphql services, as it scales well by eliminating server-side session storage and supports cross-origin requests in single page applications (spas) and mobile apps. Here's our take.
Certificate-Based Authentication
Developers should learn and use certificate-based authentication when building secure applications that require high-assurance identity verification, such as in financial systems, healthcare platforms, or IoT device management
Certificate-Based Authentication
Nice PickDevelopers should learn and use certificate-based authentication when building secure applications that require high-assurance identity verification, such as in financial systems, healthcare platforms, or IoT device management
Pros
- +It is particularly valuable for scenarios like server-to-server communication, VPN access, and API security, where it reduces reliance on passwords and mitigates risks like phishing or credential theft
- +Related to: public-key-infrastructure, ssl-tls
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Token Based Authentication
Developers should use Token Based Authentication when building stateless APIs, such as RESTful or GraphQL services, as it scales well by eliminating server-side session storage and supports cross-origin requests in Single Page Applications (SPAs) and mobile apps
Pros
- +It is ideal for microservices architectures where services need to verify user identity without shared session stores, and for implementing features like single sign-on (SSO) across multiple applications
- +Related to: json-web-tokens, oauth-2
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Certificate-Based Authentication if: You want it is particularly valuable for scenarios like server-to-server communication, vpn access, and api security, where it reduces reliance on passwords and mitigates risks like phishing or credential theft and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Token Based Authentication if: You prioritize it is ideal for microservices architectures where services need to verify user identity without shared session stores, and for implementing features like single sign-on (sso) across multiple applications over what Certificate-Based Authentication offers.
Developers should learn and use certificate-based authentication when building secure applications that require high-assurance identity verification, such as in financial systems, healthcare platforms, or IoT device management
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